Nepal Floods: Why Victims Had No Time to Escape

A hydrologist says Nepal’s steep mountains turned heavy rain into a sudden, deadly wall of water, leaving residents almost no time to flee. Raha Hakimdavar, a hydrologist and visiting professor at Georgetown University in Qatar, explained that the country’s extreme slopes are the main reason the recent flooding was so catastrophic. In mountainous terrain, rainwater does not soak into the ground. Instead, it rushes downhill instantly, gathering speed and volume. According to Hakimdavar, this rapid concentration of water means that rivers and streams can rise from calm to dangerous in a matter of minutes. For people living in valleys and along riverbanks, the warning time between the start of the downpour and the arrival of the flood surge was dangerously short. This lack of response time, she noted, was a key factor in the high number of victims.